Trouble in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon
Series: Ghost-in-law #1
Narrated by Johanna Parker
Publication Date: February 1, 2009
Date Read: January 19, 2015
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4 Stars
This book was so much fun! I had hoped that this book would keep me entertained at the gym and it did that job so well I found myself listening to it not only at the gym but on my way to the gym and really anytime I was in the car. This book isn’t anything serious and was a bit silly at times but it was exactly what I was looking for.
Maryse attends her mother-in-law’s funeral like any good person would do, even though she is estranged from her deadbeat husband, Hank. Maryse would love to get a divorce if she could find Hank so that he could be served with papers. During the funeral, Maryse sees her mother-in-law, Helena, get out of the coffin and nobody else seems to see it. She is shocked to learn that she has been named in Helena’s will and even more shocked to find out what she has inherited.
Luc is in Mudbug investigating an anonymous tip concerning illegal dumping in the bayou. He is an undercover DEA agent and moves himself into Maryse’s office by posing as a zoologist. As Maryse has one bad thing happen to her after another, Luc realizes that more may be going on than he first realized.
This book was incredibly funny at times. I can only imagine what Maryse would have looked like as she talked with a ghost that nobody else could see. The ghost, Helena, became funnier as the book progressed and by the end of the book I just loved her. The situations the characters found themselves were always amusing.
I thought the mystery was quite interesting. This book had some twists and turns that I was not expecting at all. There were at least two times during the book that I was absolutely shocked. I love that this light-hearted story was able to keep me guessing. The romance in this book didn’t take over the story and I liked the chemistry between Luc and Maryse.
I listened to the audible edition of the book and thought that the narration was wonderful. The narrator added to the story. Her character voices were distinctive and the pacing of her speech was wonderful. I think that Johanna Parker was the perfect narrator for this story.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, light-hearted book. This is the first novel by Jana DeLeon that I have had a chance to read but I definitely plan to look for her work in the future.
